May 10 & 11 5pm-9pm
Spring Show 2005
721 Broadway
at Waverly Place
4th Floor
South Elevators
New York, NY 10003
For additional
information email
itp.inquiries@nyu.edu
or call 212.998.1880
| Circulation: A Bizarre of Quilts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Author(s): | Elizabeth Burch | |
| Instructor: | Zurkow, Marina | |
| Class: | Final Project Seminar | |
| URL: | http://stage.itp.nyu.edu/~eb737/circulation.htm | |
| Keywords: | painting,quilting,feminism,installation,cybernetics | |
| Circulation is a series of ten cybernetic paintings and a user centric video installation, examining the viewer\'s role in the construction of power structures; this iteration of the project exhibits four of the paintings in a small wall based installation. | ||
| Through trauma we are able to witness the actuality of the real and explore the value of archiving our human experience. It is the lack of structure within the state of trauma that permits each event in our memory to be contextualized emotionally. This is reminiscent of the organization of power in western culture, which is consistently simulating the individual\'s two greatest traumas, birth and death. Western law\'s dependence on the polarization of the beginning and the end are reflective throughout numerous cultural relationships from religion to urban planning, yet gender roles appear to be one of the largest controlling biological and cultural divisions with in this system of power. The objectification of the public gaze and the unforeseen consequence of personal action, simulate a state of trauma which is a key motivator in the human desire to design structures of control. This series explores the deconstruction of biological form under the condition of trauma with the use of gendered games. The result is a series which presents viewers with questions about power structures, revealing their civic dependence within restrained public spaces by utilizing abstract personal narrative as a device of entertainment. Is it possible for the individual to be aware of power structures and escape their seduction while maintaining individuality? | ||
| Personal Statement: | The paramount goal for my art is to help preserve the spirit of the individual through constructed encounters or installations. My art is the documentation of my interaction with our consumer-oriented and often anaesthetized culture. The last twenty or so years have seen the extreme commodification of social and personal values. With corporations creating need for possessions through the use of imagery, it is not uncommon for people to use these popular images outside themselves to know and define their identities. My art challenges this status quo by seeking to have the viewers call upon their backgrounds and knowledge in order to derive meaning from my work.
One way in which I see my work, is as a subtle and often humorous social critique. In utilizing two-dimensional, time-based and new media, I create installations that are not purely conceptual or medium specific but are hybrids of object making and audience performance. The ideas for my work are conceived by deconstructing common media and experiences; I then combine these deconstructions with my perception of the world. I further the personalization of the common by incorporating a unique or highly technical process during the creation of the work. My work personalizes the impersonal and allows viewers to see common images constructed in unconventional ways. | |
| Background: | These paintings have been inspired by the study of civic planning, rules and power. Artists whom have been an inspiration in the construction of this work include, Hannah Wilke, Yayoi Kusama, Corneila Parker and John Chamberlain. Theorists whom have been an inspiration have included Buckminster Fuller especially his theory of synergetics, Walter Benjamin and the study of the individual and Hans Richter\'s writing on Dada games.
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| Audience: | Individuals passing through the hallway during the spring show. | |
| User Scenario: | Person A walks down the ITP hallway, they notice off to the left, four, 16\"x16\" squares framed and wrapped in white batting with a silicone surface. As the viewer continues walking past, a projectile appears to be pushing outward from beneath the surface of the work. Upon closer examination, it becomes apparent it is one part of a human body (made of plastic.) | |
| Technical System Description: | This is a smaller iteration of the Circulation exhibit, consisting of only four of the paintings.
1) Four lightweight boxes made of pine, specs are 16x16 and 4inches deep, wrapped and padded in white quilting. Upon the surface is silicone sheeting. Caste in flesh tones and assembled in traditional American quilt patterns. 2) Behind the quilt is a small pulley system with a plastic caste of one part of the human form. This caste pushes outward with the use of a servo motor. When this occurs, the surface of the painting/quilt stretches outward. Because the surface is semi transparent the viewer is able to examine the kinetic system upon closer examination. 3) The sharp IR sensor is used to trigger the servo motor. | |
| Project References, Research and Literature: | Baudrillard,Jean.Simulacra and Simulation.AnnArbor:TheUnivMichiganPress,1994
Benjamin,Walter. Selected Writings volume 3, 1993-1938. Cambridge:Harvard,2002. Chamberlain,John. assemblage: http://www.artnet.com/ag/fineartthumbnails.asp?G=9&aid=3844# Cornell, Joseph.assemblage: http://members.aol.com/mindwebart2/cornellpage3.htm DeLanda, Manuel. A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History. NewYork:ZoneBooks,1997. Delueze,Gilles. A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia.Minneapolis:UnivMinnesotaPress,1987. Duchamp, Marcel. http://www.philamuseum.org/resources/mellon-archives/collections.shtml Gray, Chris.Cyborg Handbook.NewYork: Routledge,1995. Greer,Germaine.The Female Eunuch.London:Bantam,1970. Kroker,Arthur&Marilouise. ed.Digital Delirum.NewYork:St.Martin�sPress,1997. Lupton,Ellen.Skin.NewYork: Laurence King Publishing,2002. O�Sullivan, Dan and Tom Igoe. Physical Computing. Boston:Thomson,2004. Stock,Gregory.Metaman.NewYork:Simon&Schuster,1993. | |
| Conclusions: | These paintings are an examination of user participation without consent within enclosed spaces. They have helped me to understand the importance of physical motion in the context of participatory media. | |